Hello Again
by ImprobableAbnormality
Summary: After the events of 'Blink' Sally Sparrow meets the Doctor one more time. R


**Rating: **K+

**Summary: **Sally Sparrow thought that was the last she'd see of the Doctor, until he pops up one day on her doorstep to say thank-you.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Doctor Who, just the plotline.

**A/N: **Watched 'Blink' again recently, and thought it'd be good to see a scene in which the Doctor and Sally talk, where they both know about the events of 'Blink'. (Yes, I have actually written something!)

* * *

**Hello Again**

Sally Sparrow frowned as the doorbell to the apartment she shared with Lawrence blasted her ear drums with its cheap ringing tone. She was not expecting any visitors, and she had just got off a phone call from Lawrence, on which he'd told her that the store was packed and they were becoming a huge success. So the fact that their doorbell was ringing confused her greatly. So when the doorbell buzzed for the second time, Sally groaned and got to her feet, walking towards the door.

"There better be a good reason for this," she murmured to herself, glancing through the peep hole. When she saw who was standing on the doorstep, however, she opened the door quickly.

"Hello again," the man on her doorstep grinned. He hadn't aged a day since she had last seen him, but there was something new about him. Something haunted.

"Doctor!" she gasped, ushering him inside the apartment and closing the door. She watched him analysing her apartment and smiled; finding it amusing that something so simple amazed this man who travelled amongst the stars.

"So did you get those 4 things and a lizard sorted?" Sally asked conversationally, as she followed the Doctor's explorations through the apartment that led him to the main room.

"Yeah, easy peasy. Well sort of. Well kind of, but anyway. Blimey! You seem to be doing alright," he grinned, all but falling onto the sofa as he pointed at a picture of Sally and Lawrence that hung on the wall. She blushed a little and nodded.

"I suppose so. Can't look at angel statues in the same way again though without flinching. I try to avoid them where I can to be honest..." she sighed, sitting on a chair opposite the Doctor.

"That's to be expected," the Doctor muttered, smiling sadly. His gaze seemed to drift off at that; his thoughts elsewhere. Sally watched the Doctor as he did drift off to another place, noticing the tired look he wore; as if he had seen too much, or lost something.

"Where's the girl, you know, the one I saw with you.... Martha, wasn't it?" Sally asked.

"Taking care of her family..." the Doctor answered, snapping back to reality."She left..."

"Maybe it was for the best, eh? Still you could always try to do something to help her, right?" Sally asked. The Doctor looked thoughtful at that, as if the idea hadn't really crossed his mind at all. He then let a grin spread on his face; he knew exactly what to do, but that was for later.

"So Doctor, not to be rude, but why are you here?" Sally asked, leaning forward a little.

"Oh! Yeah, I came to say thank-you Sally Sparrow, thank-you for everything!" the Doctor beamed. "You did a great job!"

Sally beamed as he complimented her and nodded in acceptance of his thanks. It felt good to be complimented by the man, who knew far more than her about alien life and such. It made her feel proud to have been a part of the whole situation; despite how stressful, scary and traumatic it had been. There had been so much loss, and yet, so much gain. Yes, she had lost her best friend, Kathy Nightingale to the Lonely Assassins, but she had gained Lawrence Nightingale as something much closer to her heart. And Kathy had people back in the past too. There was the shop too; Sparrow and Nightingale, just like Kathy had said, although back then she had been talking about a detective agency. Well it was better than nothing.

"It was no trouble Doctor, well it was, but it was a good sort of once-in-a-lifetime trouble." Sally smiled, chuckling a little as her speech reflected the Doctor's answer to the four things and a lizard question.

"Well, once in a lifetime for you maybe, every other day for me," the Doctor smiled, although it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Well look at you, superman." Sally laughed.

"I've met Superman, he's a nice guy. Although we had a little incident with the Kryptonite watch... but that's another story," the Doctor muttered, then laughed as he saw Sally's raised eyebrow. "I've been to places you could only dream of." he shrugged, his tone almost offering Sally a chance to go with him.

"And keep dreaming of them I shall, Doctor." Sally grinned. "What about you?" she asked, wondering what this impossible man would do next.

"Back to the TARDIS, same old life. There's so much to see, so many places to visit, so many planets that need saving." the Doctor sighed.

"On your own?" Sally asked. He seemed so lonely.

"It's best that way," the Doctor muttered, shrugging. His eyes told Sally a different story, however. They showed her the loneliness inside that was tearing him apart. "People get hurt when they travel with me. Martha... Donna... Rose..." he sighed.

"Maybe its worth it Doctor. All you show people. All you do. Sometimes it's worth taking a chance, I'm sure none of them regret, or would ever regret taking the chance to travel with you." Sally said reassuringly, leaning forward and placing a hand over the Time Lord's. He looked up at her and offered her a small smile, and then his eyes lit up.

"Come with me," he asked. "Just one trip. Anywhere you want. Please." he questioned. Sally bit her lip. She couldn't just up and leave Lawrence, that wasn't fair. But at the same time, this was a once in a lifetime opportunity. She didn't want more trouble though. She just couldn't, and didn't want to, live like that.

"If I choose to come with you, _**if**_ I do, I'd want to go to Kathy's funeral, you know, say goodbye properly. Can you do that?" Sally asked. The Doctor thought about it for a moment.

"We'd have to be discreet, but yeah, I think so." he smiled. Sally nodded at that.

"Alright then, I'll come with you, but I'd prefer to be back before four tonight, that way Lawrence won't know I've gone travelling. He'd get jealous." she laughed, grabbing her long, black coat. The Doctor grinned and waited for her to grab her keys and phone, before leading the way to the TARDIS...

* * *

It was a morbid day for the family of Katherine Costello Nightingale as they watched her lowered to eternal rest. Her children wept for her, and her grandchild held the letter he had promised to deliver to a Sally Sparrow in the future as tears poured down his face. At the back of the rows of people dressed in black, a little way off, stood a brown-haired man wearing a long brown coat, and a blonde woman in a black coat with tears pouring down her face. They stood there, until the end of the ceremony and the last of Kathy's friends and family had gone, before they approached the grave.

"It was a good ceremony," the Doctor commented, looking around the graves. He wasn't particularly fond of graveyards. Too much death around him.

"Yeah, well she deserved the best, I'm glad she had so many people who cared," Sally whispered, running her fingers over the grave. "Rest in peace Kathy," she whispered, before standing up. She knew they couldn't stay long; the Doctor explained that in the TARDIS. "Right, I'm done," Sally said, swallowing.

"You sure?" the Doctor asked. He knew this must be hard for Sally; this was her best friend after all.

"Yeah. She lived her life, and now Larry and I have to live ours," Sally smiled. "She'd have wanted us to be happy," she added, smiling at the thought of Lawrence back home, and all the happy little moments they had shared.

"Can't say fairer than that then," the Doctor smiled, before he and Sally headed back to where they had parked the TARDIS...

* * *

When they arrived back at the flat, Sally seemed shocked that she had only been gone for a few hours. She decided not to ask however, it seemed to be complicated, and after the Doctor's 'timey-wimey' explanation last time, she didn't want to know. He could have his secrets, she wasn't going to pry.

"So... I guess this is it Sally Sparrow," the Doctor muttered as he hung in the doorway.

"Yeah, it's been fun though," she smiled. "Thank-you Doctor, I appreciate you taking me to see Kathy's funeral. It didn't feel right that she'd died before me, yet I hadn't been to the funeral."

"I understand. And it was no trouble." the Doctor smiled, the sadness creeping back into it. He lingered in the doorway, almost as if he really didn't want to go.

"Go on Doctor, you have the stars to see, and if you ever fancy a chat, drop by. Lawrence and I would love to have you over for tea," Sally smiled. This seemed to brighten the Doctor's expression and he nodded.

"Yeah there's a traditional festival going on now in the Jupinaesr Belt, I might go see that. Or go back to the 15th century. Or go to the 31st century. I don't know. But I'll be sure to tell you about it," he grinned, and although both of them knew it wasn't very likely they'd see each other again, they smiled and nodded. It was good to pretend. With a final goodbye to each other, the Doctor headed off to the TARDIS, ready to run amongst the stars, and Sally headed inside, a content smile on her face, feeling as everything was finally as it should be.

And that made everything she had seen worth it.

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**A/N: **Its rubbish, I know. I am trying though. Go easy on me; this is the first thing I've written since everything that happened, so I'm pretty happy that I managed to come up with something. Now I'll work on the quality. This was kind of written in chunks so it doesn't flow brilliantly, but like I said: I'm working on it. Review with your opinion, please, but don't just review to flame. At least try to be constructive, kay?


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